Cleveland State Marshall College of Law

Law Schools Consider Plans For Unification

Two law schools are considering jointly creating a unified law school.

Cleveland State University (CSU) and the University of Akron (UA) recently announced the formation of a Joint Exploratory Working Group to consider a strategic partnership between the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and The University of Akron School of Law.

“The opportunity to work together on something truly special and unique that builds upon our respective track records of academic excellence and student engagement is real,” Harlan Sands, president of Cleveland State University, says in a press release. “Our collective ability to meet the changing needs and expectations of our legal and business communities in Northeast Ohio is greater if we work together.”

POSSIBILITY TO CREATE LARGEST LAW SCHOOL IN OHIO

The Working Group will be co-chaired by both deans of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and The University of Akron School of Law with representatives of faculty, staff, alumni, and students from the respective institutions.

Recommendations will be shared with university presidents in the fall with plans to go to the ABA and state for final approval in 2021.

If the joint plans are approved, the joint operating model would potentially create the largest law school in Ohio, one of the largest public law schools in the nation, and the only law school in the US to be part of two different urban public research universities.

UA and CSU would jointly own and operate the newly organized law school.

“We have an exciting opportunity to think about how we might redesign legal education through a creative partnership of two outstanding law schools,” UA President Gary L. Mille says. “We hope to leverage the great variation in circumstances in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton urban corridor.“

Sources: Cleveland State University, Cleveland.com